Life is a Song or a Bunch of Songs Strung Together
by redwolffclaw
Summary: My I-Pod Shuffle Challenge. Small stories written to songs and in the time the song plays. Will be a different theme every chapter.
1. Theme: Shawn and Gus' Friendship

**This type of thing has probably been done to death but I was in a music and writing mood tonight so I found a challenge that let me do both.**

**I have a bunch of themes I am going to choose for each 10 songs because damn it this was really fun.**

**Rules:  
**1. Pick a character, pairing, or fandom you like.  
2. Put iTunes or equivalent media player on random.  
3. For each song that plays, write something related to the theme you picked inspired by the song. You have only the time frame of the song: no planning beforehand: you start when it starts, and no lingering afterward; once the song is over, you stop writing. (No fair skipping songs either; you have to take what comes by chance!  
4. Do 10 of these, then post.

(The Artists are listed first, then the title of the song)

**Pairing: Shawn and Gus friendship**

Songs:

**1. ****Blue Oyster Cult- Don't Fear the Reaper** **(**_**How could this not be a death fic... C'mon son!)**_

Gus and Shawn had never really talked about it. Neither had to. It had been a fantasy that both of them would die on the same day, at the same minute when they were so ancient they could barely move. Unfortunately fate, and death do not subscribe to innocent fantasies. Gus always said that if he had to go off on a hunch to take back up. This was the one time he actually listened, and it did him no good. Shawn was always throwing himself into situations headfirst but the sad part of the matter was that this time, he had taken Juliet down with him. The bomb still went off and two lives, two loves and both Gus' best friends were gone in an instant.

**2. ****Powerman 5000- Bombshell**_**(I didn't take the bombshell meaning literally with this one)**_

"I don't blame you Gus. It had to come out sooner or later." Shawn said without his usual flair. He had been extremely depressed since Gus had accidentally let slip that Shawn was not psychic.

The station had just quieted down at the exact moment Gus had said, "But you aren't psychic Shawn!" Was just fate. Shawn really didn't blame him for it but it didn't mean he couldn't milk the guilt for all it was worth.

"Is there anything else I can do for you Shawn?" Gus asked

Shawn leaned back in his chair. "They have good pineapple smoothies at that new place across town. I could use a couple to lift my spirits…."

**3. ****Butthole Surfers- Pepper**_**(The song is all about what happened to certain people and this popped in my head.)**_

On the last day of high school Shawn looked around at the other graduates and sighed. It was hard to be able to see so much. It was almost like he was psychic. He could almost see each of their futures by noticing the smallest details of their clothes, tics and attitudes. He saw James, the quarterback. He knew he would be dead in a car crash before he left college. He knew Abigail was going to be a teacher. She was always showing people how to do things and was a very patient person. After all she waited so long for him on that peer…

Gus was a different story. He had been Shawn's friend forever and it was clear as day the man would become president before he was forty. Shawn smiled. Maybe telling the future wasn't so bad at all.

**4. ****Puddle of Mudd- Blurry**_**(The protection part is what really stuck out for me rather than the other person being far away.)**_

For someone who acted like a child most of the time, Shawn was pretty jaded when it came to how the world works. He had traveled, seen some good things but also some horrible ones too. When he came back he was a different person inside. Gus was the same though. Down to his tap dancing, clothing and speaking habits. So Shawn pretended to protect his friend from the horrors of his past.

They had taken a lot of cases, seen some horrible things together, but Shawn hid the worst from his friend. It crushed him the first time Gus was able to look at a dead body without running away in sickness or terror. He blamed Yin and Yang for that. They took away his friend's innocence, and that is what hurt Shawn the most.

**5. ****Weezer- Buddy Holly**_**(Because some times you just have to stick up for yourselves...)**_

"Hey Hey whoa! Dudes!" Shawn exclaimed as some rough type guys purposefully ran into him and his best friend Gus as they exited a restaurant.

The biggest guy in the group turned around and glared daggers at the duo. It was times like these Gus wished Shawn had a lick of self-preservation. Gus tried to smooth over the situation. "Sorry, our bad. We will watch where you are going next time."

Apparently the smoothing over didn't go so well. Five minutes later Gus and Shawn were staggering out of the place with a lot of bumps and bruises… and Gus was missing a shoe.

Lassiter was the one to take their statements. "What the hell did you do to make those guys so angry Spencer?"

Smiling Shawn limped over to sit on the exit of the ambulance. "They dissed us." He shrugged.

**6. ****Korn- Evolution**_**(I laughed when this song came up. Pretty perfect for one of the guys' random conversations in the office)**_

Gus looked over at Shawn who was busy throwing a ball up and down while leaning back in his office chair. Shawn noticed him staring. "What?"

Making a thoughtful face Gus asked, "Do you ever wonder how you are able to do what you do?"

"What do you mean?" Shawn asked puzzled.

"Well, do you ever wonder if in 100 years everyone is going to be able to do what you do? Like you were an early evolutionary jump?"

Shawn laughed, "Like X-Men?" He had never really thought about it like that. "I don't know but if they do I hope they all have the awesome hair to match, it is half the package."

**7. ****Korn- Coming Undone**_**(Shawn has seen some pretty horrible things...)**_

Sometimes it was so hard to remember everything. The old lady he saw walking the cute Pomeranian down the street last week was just as vivid in his mind as the mass murder case the Chief gave them two years ago.

Since he was a kid he knew this would be the case. Sometimes it got to him, sometimes it didn't. He just had to learn to block it out. Unfortunately sometimes it was too hard. He would have ended up closing himself off for days at a time sitting in his apartment trying to remove the flashing images from his head if Gus was not there to pull him out. Everyone thought they were psychic visions but seeing the knowing look on Gus' face made it just a little more bearable to pretend everything was ok.

**8. ****Modest Mouse- Dashboard**_**(Blueberry Whump!)**_

"I'm going to kill you Shawn." Gus had his head on the steering wheel.

"Don't be Hayley Joel Osmond on the Sixth Sense Gus. We are going to be fine." Ever the optimist, Shawn tried cheering his friend up.

They had been heading to Las Vegas for the weekend to have some fun after a particularly trying case. Gus had asked Shawn if he had changed the oil on the Blue Berry since it was low and they had a long way to drive. He should have known better. Shawn had put the oil in the wrong place. He had put it where the power steering fluid went because he was in a hurry to get back to watching his favorite TV program.

"It could be worse." Shawn said looking at the smoking hood of the blue car. "We can still listen to the radio while we wait for a tow."

**9. ****Tears for Fears- Call Me Mellow** **(**_**I was so happy a Tears for Fears song came up!)**_

Gus was used to Shawn showing up and doing spontaneous things. It used to really make him mad but Gus realized it was just Shawn's way of breaking him out of his shell of comfort. If it weren't for Shawn, Gus knew he would probably would be a boring person. Shawn made him laugh.

People who didn't know how deep their friendship went constantly wondered how he put up with Shawn's antics but in a strange way, they complemented each other, and Gus was just fine being the mellow one.

**10. ****30 Seconds to Mars- Kings and Queens** **(**_**This one was hard to write in the allotted time. I had so much more I wanted to put in here.)**_

Eighteen years ago Shawn and his father had the fight to end all fights. Gus was there to witness everything. Afterwards Shawn sat on the curb and sulked while Gus put his arm around his shoulder.

"Everything will be ok Shawn. You guys fight all the time. Give him a bit of cool off time and talk to him again." Gus was an expert at cheering his friend up after fights with his dad.

Shawn shook his head. "Not this time Gus. I have to leave. You heard him." He sighed. "He always used to be so proud of me. I screw up a couple of times and this is what I get, just because I don't have the same priorities he does."

"I will miss you Shawn…"

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**END NOTES:** Will post more as I can. I needed a bit of a break from my other stories. It is funny, I have another work in progress I started because I needed a break from the main series I was writing... I hope I am not starting a viscious circle... kidding.


	2. Juliet and Shawn's Relationship

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Got a couple more of these things done this weekend. They are a bit addicting and a good break to get my thoughts together for my main stories. Hope they are interesting for everyone.

* * *

**Pairing: Shawn and Juliet Romance**

**1. Matchbox 20- Unwell (****_I thought about how_****_Shawn's brain does not shut off while he is sleeping and we all know his dreams can get interesting)_**

Juliet wasn't sure if it was because Shawn's psychic visions didn't stop even if he was sleeping, or maybe the ones he had in the past haunted him but Shawn talked a lot in his sleep. She wasn't sure Shawn even knew it happened himself but she could tell when he had a bad one because he would be quiet the next morning. It would take him a little bit to get back to himself but eventually it would happen. She had tried to talk to him about it but in the typical Shawn fashion he passed it off as just nothing and went back to eating breakfast and talking about nonsensical things over his pineapple pancakes.

**2. The Who- My Generation ****_(This one was hard to incorporate into a Shules fic. Was more something that would go good for Henry and Shawn but I think it worked out)_**

Shawn was used to people thinking he was just a child in a man's body. Peter Pan syndrome he heard someone call it. It always made him smile for two reasons: One- because Peter Pan was awesome, and two- because keeping up the appearance caused people to underestimate him and he counted on that in his work. Keep them guessing.

It was a real treat when he found someone who could keep him guessing though. She was smart, mature and beautiful. Everything he wasn't... except for his hair, that was beautiful but his Juliet, was just too adorable for words.

**3. Distillers- Drain the Blood ****_(As much as I would LOVE to have made this a vampire fic...)_**

"Shawn, you really should warn Gus when you come to these kinds of crime scenes." Juliet chastised.

Smiling at his friend's retreating form he shrugged. "I never understood how he could eat a rare steak but gets squeamish around a little blood."

"It takes some getting used to Shawn. Throwing it in his face isn't going to help matters." Juliet grabbed her boyfriend's hand and brought him close.

"Facing your fears is the best way to defeat them." Shawn put his nose in the air regally.

Leaning forward Juliet whispered in Shawn's ear. "Next time we are in bed then I will make sure I have a large picture of Patrick Dempsey right at my headboard." Juliet let go and walked away to observe more of the crime scene.

Shawn paled, "Wait! No! Jules you wouldn't!"

**4. Foo Fighters- The Pretender ****_(What if Shawn wasn't the only one who knew how to pretend?)_**

"I am not going to tell her about it Gus." They had been having this argument almost every day since Shawn had finally gotten up the nerve to ask out Juliet.

Gus put his head in his hand. "She is going to find out Shawn. You are risking losing her by staying silent about this."

"I want to tell her! You have no idea how much I want to but if she knows, she could get in trouble if I am found out. Lassiter would shoot me if I got her arrested for aiding and abetting fraud." Shawn complained. "I am protecting her in the long run and if I end up losing her over it at least she wont go down with me."

Carlton Lassiter was leaning against the wall on the other side of the pillar. He had overheard everything, Spencer was a fake... but he was willing to lose the girl of his dreams in order to protect her from his lies. Lassiter decided to just let his one go for now and walked away, pretending he didn't hear a thing.

**5. Beck- Where It's At ****_(Beck... yeah. As much as I like this song it was hard to put the randomness in the fic until I remembered how many random jobs Shawn had during his travels.)_**

Laying in bed with Juliet cuddled up next to him Shawn was telling her about all the places he had traveled after he left Santa Barbara.

"I stuck to the small towns at first. I wasn't sure my dad would not find some way to track me down and make me come home. I was still a minor for a few months after I left." Juliet could see how Shawn could think that. Henry was the type to at least try to keep tabs on Shawn.

"I settled down after a while, actually ended up being a DJ. I wasn't a very good one though." Shawn scrunched his face.

Juliet propped herself up on her elbow to look him in the eyes. "Why do you say that Shawn?"

"Because you can only remix the song "Shout" so many times before it gets old." Shawn admitted.

**6. Rob Zombie- More Human Than Human ****_(Juliet figures out Shawn)_**

Juliet had never paid attention to how he had worked before. She had just figured it was the visions and the outside forces were the ones doing all the work. Once she knew the truth about Shawn she watched him closely as he worked. His eyes passed over everything in the room. Every once and a while his eyes would catch and he would make a squinty face but then continued on like nothing had happened. She had asked Gus about it and he shrugged saying that Shawn did that when he saw something worth noting.

Seeing the way he processed things she wondered how different his brain was. She figured it would be hard to live a normal life if you constantly had to figure out things you really didn't want to know. She was going to have to ask Shawn herself, when she decided she was going to talk to him again. For now, he would stay in the doghouse for lying to her.

**7. Avenged Sevenfold- A Little Piece of Heaven ****_(Well, when this one came up I decided I wasn't going to have what the song is about happen to Shawn and Juliet... that would be just gross. Anyone who is not into some interesting sexual habits may not want to listen to this song... just a warning.)_**

"Shawn, do you want to talk about the case today?" Juliet asked. Her boyfriend had been uncharacteristically quiet which meant, according to Gus, that he was freaking out.

He shook his head. "I don't understand how someone could do something like that. Their neighbors said they were the perfect couple."

Juliet laid her hand on his and sat next to him at the table. "Things change sometimes."

Shawn stood abruptly and threw his coffee cup against the wall with a shatter. He almost clawed at his head as if trying to remove something deeply engrained. "He had to have stabbed her fifty times!"

"Shawn..." Juliet tried to calm him down.

"Her heart was missing Jules! He was supposed to love her..." He trailed off and sighed. "I didn't tell you this before but the ring that was on her finger, was put there after she was dead."

Juliet gasped. She had not thought of that.

Shawn sat down again and was visibly shuddering. "He kept her body for a while Jules. I don't even want to know what the space heater was used for."

Juliet was finally able to put her arms around Shawn and he hugged her back. "I will never hurt you Jules. I need you to know that."

**8. Filter- Hey Man Nice Shot ****_(I still never understand why the heck Shawn doesn't show everyone how well he could shoot, but I am a real sucker for a badass Shawn.)_**

Shawn barely aimed at the paper target before he started to fire. He fired the next time with his eyes closed. Then with the gun upside down. Each time hitting it center mass.

"Shawn..." Juliet asked in awe of what she just saw. "How did you do that?"

"It is something my dad taught me." Shawn shrugged and put down the gun. All this was old hat. That is why he never really thought about how surprised people would be to know he could shoot.

Lassiter walked in and roughly shoved Shawn out of the way. "Spencer what are you doing here?" Looking down at the target he whistled in appreciation before he turned to Juliet and said, "Nice shot O'Hara."

**9. Beck- Nausea ****_(Beck again, at least this one was a bit more straight forward...lol)_**

Juliet smiled at how cute Shawn was when he was sick. He did not get sick very often but when he did he became an adorable mess. He tried to be tough for everyone, because he really didn't want to be sick. He would try to do things for himself but when a wave of sickness hit he would be a curled up ball on the couch asking for a 7-up and a bucket.

Yes, she was just fine playing nurse.

**10. Avenged Sevenfold- Seize the Day ****_(Didn't get as much writing done as I could have on this one. Kept having to wipe away tears. Yes, I am a damn sap. That is why I avoid death fics like the plague but sometimes they can't be avoided.)_**

Juliet regretted the time that she and Shawn had wasted not being together. When she first met him he was a snarky jerk. It took a while for her to realize there really was a good heart behind the zany sarcastic man.

Now that she had him it would be hard letting him go. He had taken such a chance to kiss her on that overlook in Canada and she was glad he did it. It had been the best year and a half of her life.

Laying here, having him hold her as she was gasping for breath she wanted to tell him how much she cared for him and how she was very sorry she had to leave so soon. Sorry they would never get to do the things they dreamed of but she wouldn't give up one day she had with him for anything in the world.


	3. Shawn and Henry

**Pairing: Shawn and Henry  
**

**1. Rammstein- Sonne(Sun) ****_(I was always skeptical that Henry never taught Shawn some hand to hand combat and since this song is about a boxer I figured it was a good song to use this idea for)_**

His father had taught him how to fight. Though he had refused to let Shawn take karate, thinking it was not feasible in the real world when a man was pointing his gun at you. No, Henry taught his son how to fight dirty and mean. It was how Shawn got through high school unscathed, until one time he went too far and the boy had ended up in the hospital.

After that, Shawn used his words to fight. He had the gift of gab and it had gotten him out of more situations than he could count. His father had not taught him that. It was his own doing, and was his way of using his gifts how he wanted.

**2. Peter Gabriel- Solsbury Hill ****_(I felt happy this song ended up on this theme. Would be kind of hard to write any other kind of fic for it.) _**

Shawn was gone almost six months on his road trip before his dad found him the first time. He knew he shouldn't have left such a paper trail but he wasn't expecting his dad to actually be looking for him then. Not after the fight they had before he left.

But there Henry was, standing in all his holier than thow-ness demanding that he come home. Shawn had actually considered going with him, but he knew nothing would change. He would still be treated like a know nothing kid who screwed up. He wanted to be free, to finally know what kind of man he would become.

So he said to the angry man standing in front of him, "Wherever I am at is home and I don't need you around. Goodbye dad."

**3. Iggy Pop/Sum 41- Little Know It All****_ (Shawn is a little know it all, and proud of it.)_**

Shawn knew he was a hard person to understand. Hell, his father raised him and still didn't understand him. It didn't help that he saw the world differently than everyone else. The connections he made, the conclusions he jumped to, seemingly crazy at first but correct in the end always seemed to surprise everyone. Every time. It never ceased to amuse and frustrate him.

He wished he could respect his father more, but Henry refused to see how he felt when he was a kid, being pulled around constantly and tested to his limits. Sometimes he wished he would understand it would make things a lot easier.

**4. Drowning Pool- Bodies ****_(I could not make Shawn go postal so this was my only other option for this song. Lol)_**

Henry and Shawn stood with their backs to trees right across from each other. Henry pointed to his eyes and then to the clearing spreading out in front of them. Shawn nodded in agreement and held his rifle close to his chest.

Henry mouthed, One... two... Three... and yelled "GO!"

Both opened fire on the scattering people. One fell, two fell, three fell, four fell spraying colored liquid all over their padded bodies.

Shawn looked over and saw his dad had been hit. Ducking back for cover he had time to reload before running out of cover and picking off any stragglers that were left over from the first volley.

"Hey!" Lassiter yelled. "Don't shoot for the head Spencer! Paintballs hurt you know!"

**5. Darkness- I Believe in a Thing Called Love ****_(Had fun twisting this song. Poor Henry gets to be the victim of TMI)_**

"Shawn, you can't love her. You just met her." Henry pointed out to his son.

Shawn tried to scratch his nose with cuffed hands. "Dad! You don't understand! She said she guys who had cool cars made her hot... So I just borrowed one."

Henry scoffed, "I don't even want to know what was going on before I got there. You are not going to get off easy for this kid."

"I am sorry if you don't care about my love life dad. I just want you to know that we were on round two when you found us." Shawn gave his dad an evil grin.

"Shut up Shawn!"

**6. Verve Pipe- Freshmen ****_(For someone who is as big of a sap as me, I sure have a lot of sad songs.)_**

"Mr. Spencer." Burton Guster couldn't believe he was willingly talking to Shawn's dad.

Looking up from his paper, Henry saw his son's best friend. "What is it Gus."

"I need to tell you something about Shawn." He shifted from one foot to the other nervously.

"What is it?" Henry stood and walked up to the boy.

"Last week Shawn's ex-girlfriend killed herself after they broke up. He hasn't been talking to me. He has been skipping school since it happened." Gus felt guilty for not telling Henry this earlier.

Henry couldn't believe what he was hearing. His son was going through hell right now and he never noticed. "I will talk to him Gus. Did you want to come with?"

Nodding and going up the stairs they found Shawn sitting on the edge of the bed looking at a picture of the two of them together. Looking up he saw his father and best friend with sympathetic looks on their faces. "It's not my fault right?" He asked before a tear fell down his cheek.

**7. Bush- Mouth ****_(The words, "You have broken me." were the ones I thought about when this song came up. Shawn is a bit broken, he cannot shut himself off.)_**

It was all Henry's fault for making him this way and being so tired made it worse. A quick glance at the people in the next booth, the man was cheating on his girlfriend, the girlfriend was nervous about something, probably confronting him on said cheating? No! Don't look. Just finish your coffee and leave. Six hats were in the room... "Focus on your coffee Shawn." He kept telling himself.

If he hadn't been so addicted to his father's praise. Doing whatever it took to hear a "Good job kid." or even an "Its adequate." he knew he wouldn't have pushed himself to this level of awareness.

He had hoped the time away from home would make it better, but he could still hear his dad say, "Pay attention Shawn! How many hats." Shaking his head and giving up on his coffee Shawn left the diner. "Seven hats now..." He thought as a man with a baseball cap passed him in the doorway.

**8. One Republic- Secrets ****_(This one has been done to death when it comes to Shules and for good reason, but I hope I did it justice for this theme.)_**

Henry shook his head at his son."Kid, your whole life is based on lies. If you told the truth for one day your whole world would crumble to dust."

"Glad you have so much faith in me." Shawn sneered sarcastically.

Henry leaned back in his chair. "You can only blame yourself for your predicament. I told you I was not going to cover for you again."

"What do you want me to say dad? Do you really want me to tell everyone that I am a fraud?" Shawn gave his dad an accusing glare.

Henry walked over to Shawn and put a hand on his back. "If they really care about you they will understand."

**9. The Who- Eminence Front ****_(I was happy when this came up. It fit well and was an easy one to write.)_**

"Now pay attention Shawn. Little things in people's features can give away a lot, and it isn't just their faces. Their hands, the way they stand, all of that can give away what someone is thinking." Henry looked at his young son. He was only six but Henry knew he understood.

"People are also easy to trick." Henry continued. "They can only fake for so long before they slip. They get comfortable and their act slips and that is when you see the real person, and the real guilt."

**10. Third Eye Blind- Semi- Charmed Life ****_(I believe Yang said that Shawn coasted through life on snarky eloquence...)_**

After Shawn returned to Santa Barbara, Henry watched his son go from slacker extraordinaire to a grown man who was serious about a business and a relationship.

Since he was a child Henry had tried to instill some kind of sense of responsibility in him but life seemed to come too easy for his son. He had never really had to apply what he had taught him until just the last few years. That is when Shawn realized that if he wanted more than coasting through life, he would have to fight for what he wanted, and what he loved.

Henry knew that is why he stayed in one place for so long. He had to work to get what he had, the universe didn't just hand him everything this time and it made it all the more valuable.

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**END NOTES: I don't usually ask for reviews but in this case I really would like to know what people think about these. They are just little mini stories to pass the time, but I still like to know people enjoy reading them. **


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